Second annual Speak Up, Stand Up, Save A Life Conference gives tools and hope to Arizona students

Phoenix, AZ (January 10, 2018) Students are sometimes the only ones who know when another classmate is in crisis and it could be their courage to take action or speak out that gets the help needed. On Tuesday, January 16th more than 3,000 students will fill the arena at Grand Canyon University to learn how to Speak Up, Stand Up, Save A Life. The daylong event running from 9:15am to 2:15pm will inspire attendees to connect and create lasting solutions they can implement back at their schools.

The idea for the conference was created through Leadership West Class XXII, where Gina Godbehere of the Maricopa County Attorney Office connected with Pendergast Elementary School District Superintendent Dr. Lily Matos DeBlieux and Strategic Business expert, Jennifer Rogers with GCON Inc. The three women saw the need and believed that real change for these issues could be achieved for students locally through a solution-oriented youth conference.

The conference will offer students a chance to hear from local and national speakers on the difficult issues they face on a daily basis both inside and outside of school. Breakout sessions will also allow them to discuss and brainstorm ideas on how to help their schools increase each students ability to speak out when they see behavior that could be harmful to another student from bullying, to substance abuse and even suicide.

"I would like nothing more than to spark a movement for students to reconnect to each other. Valley schools have suffered too many tragedies involving our kids. Many times there were warning signs others kids saw, but no one was either willing or knew how to take action." said Conference Co-Founder Gina Godbehere." My greatest hope is that we can inspire youth to speak up, stand up, save a life" she added.

What makes this youth conference unique is the outreach offered to the adults. For those in attendance, they will have their own breakout sessions. These sessions will bring together school instructors alongside law enforcement members and government leadership to talk about how they can communicate better with students. For those not at the conference, there will be three different resource nights offered across the Valley for those looking to learn more on helping students facing difficult issues and will offer information on the programs and resources available in the area.

The media is invited to attend the conference, with a recommended arrival time of 10:30am.

City Proclamations

The Speak Up Stand Up Save a Life movement bridges the gap between our local community, the government, and law enforcement in a positive way. The conference team consists of four members, representing four sectors (Government, Education, Business and Non-Profit) along with members of the local police departments, teachers, parents and student facilitators all coming together to tackle real issues facing our schools.

The student-led conference inspires students to Speak Up, Stand Up and Save a Life. The attendees come up with their own ideas on the best way to communicate to a trusted adult when they hear or see cries for help such as bullying, cyber-bullying, drug addiction, depression, and ongoing threats against others. Following the conference, students bring their ideas into the schools and encourage peers to Care Enough to Get in the Way.

Another important component of this movement is to make sure when our youth are reporting and communicating troubling information, that the trusted adults like parents, teachers, and police officers properly collect and report the information.

The conference team would like to thank Bill Montgomery, our County Attorney, for his support and for putting the Proclamation before the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

About the Conference Founders:

Gina Godbehere is the Bureau Chief of the Northwest Valley Bureau in the Community Based Prosecution Division of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. She has over two decades of experience both as a trial attorney and in assignments with a wide variety of bureaus, including Pretrial, Juvenile, Gang, and the Repeat Offender Unit, during which she has tried every type of felony case including first degree premeditated murder. Throughout her twenty years of service with MCAO, Gina has played an integral role in developing the first Juvenile Drug Court, in implementing the Juvenile Transfer Offender Program, and is the Co-Author and Creator of the Ultimate Trial Research Notebook used by prosecution agencies throughout Arizona. Gina is Maricopa County’s designated Bias Crimes Prosecutor, and she actively trains prosecutors and law enforcement officers throughout the state. Gina was born, raised, and currently resides in the west valley. She graduated from Cactus High School, before receiving a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies and a Juris Doctorate degree from Arizona State University's College of Law in 1995.

Dr. Lily Matos DeBlieux was born in New York, N.Y. where she attended elementary school and two years of high school. Her family then moved to Isabela, Puerto Rico where she completed high school and college. Lily’s educational preparation includes degrees in Elementary Education (BA), Educational Leadership and Supervision (MA and PHD), all from the University of Southern Mississippi and a BA in Business Administration from the University of Puerto Rico. Her experiences are varied and include serving as a teacher, elementary principal, middle school dean of students, assistant superintendent, adjunct university professor, English as a Second Language Instructor, director of religious education at a military base, business owner, and community volunteer. Lily owned a technology company for six years before returning to her true love: education. Dr. DeBlieux was appointed as the first bi-lingual, Latina Superintendent of the Pendergast Elementary School District in May 2014. Dr. DeBlieux is involved in community organizations including: The Hispanic Leadership Institute, Glendale West Rotary, Leadership West Class XX11, City of Phoenix Youth and Education Commission, Glendale Chamber of Commerce, and others. Lily is sought after as a motivational speaker, and in 2015 she founded the organization Si No Yo, Quien? LLC, to provide training to empower women to reach new heights in their personal and professional lives. She is married to Earl, a retired chaplain who served 30 years in the United States Air Force. She has two children; Joel, a Network Engineer and business owner living in Fort Myers, Florida and Dr. Linda, a Pharmacist living in Tucson, AZ. She is also the proud grandmother of Evangeline.

Jennifer Vogel Rogers, graduated cum laude from the Walter Cronkite School of Broadcast Journalism at Arizona State University. Rogers began her career as an on-air reporter and sports anchor for CBS in Washington state, and continued to work on-air for NBC in Lubbock, Texas. The next move was back to her hometown in Phoenix, Arizona where she worked as a reporter for NBC. She was featured on MSNBC and nominated for an Emmy Award. Rogers hosted and executive produced a 30-minute show on Fox Sports Houston for the Astros called, “Here’s the Pitch,” and was hired as executive producer and host of “Anything That Rolls” on Channel 39 in Houston. While producing these shows, Jennifer created a successful social media video company. Rogers grew her brand to Arizona and began consulting for companies in Public Affairs, Media Affairs, and Business Development. Jennifer has run successful, award-winning, campaigns for companies such as Central Recovery, Angel MedFlight Air Ambulance, and the City of Buckeye, earning her the title of "Marketer of the Year" from the Phoenix Business Journal. Jennifer and her husband, Kyle, former pitcher for the Texas Rangers organization, now live back in Arizona, and grew their family with a son and daughter.